


A Case of Mistaken Identity

by Caora



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: (Cartoonz is only mentioned though but they are), Alternate Universe - Bat Owl and Early Bird, Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Crime Fighting, Death Threats, Delirious and Cartoonz are brothers, Domestic Fluff, Guns, Hostage Situations, M/M, Married Couple, Secret Identity, Unconsciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 02:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9300410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caora/pseuds/Caora
Summary: Los Santos was a city riddled with crime, and it was up to Evan and his friends to fix that. By night, he was Bat Owl - a superhero tasked with defending his city from the baddest of the bad, alongside his friends and teammates, Batcoon and Early Bird. By day, he was a mild mannered security guard and loving husband to Brock, the son of a local billionaire entrepreneur.Little did he know, however, that Brock had a secret identity of his own, and their lives were more intertwined than he previously thought.(Vanoo Bat Owl and Early Bird AU.)





	

**** The city was quiet. 

 

It was rare that Los Santos would be this tranquil and peaceful, but Evan wasn’t going to complain. The absence of sirens was calming and more beautiful than any sound, and he was determined to enjoy it while it lasted. The city lights twinkled under the backdrop of the night sky, and the familiar rumble of cars zooming down the streets rose up from underneath them. The ever shining streetlights cast an orange glow on the horizon that drowned out the stars, but the full moon still hung brilliantly and watched over everyone below, emitting a gentle aura of peace that washed over him. 

 

Being a superhero in a city with such a high crime rate meant genuinely peaceful moments were few and far between, and it was refreshing to perch on the edge of a rooftop with his team and bask in the tranquility while they still had the chance to enjoy it. It was a demanding job, but Evan couldn’t imagine doing anything else that would be even half as rewarding, and it was in moments like this when the city was sleeping soundly without a care in the world that reassured him that the risk was worth it. His body may be littered in bruises and scars, but if the people were safe, then that’s all that mattered to him. 

 

They never expected anything in return for their heroism, and often didn’t receive anything directly aside from the regular grants from the government that acted as a paycheck, but Evan didn’t mind. He didn’t need gifts to know that the city appreciated them. Their masks were often plastered across magazine covers and their names were printed in big bold lettering on the front pages of newspapers, and the amount of people he’d meet on the street in shirts with their logos on them was staggering. That alone was enough to show their gratitude; he didn’t need ceremonies or parades. 

 

Even the term ‘superhero’ was one the public had attributed to them, and it took a long time to adjust to such an illustrious title. They didn’t have powers and they weren’t extraordinary in any way; they merely pranced around in specially made suits and gadgets they’d paid for out of pocket, and Evan didn’t feel he deserved such praise at first when he was nothing more than a glorified cop. But, in spite of what he thought, the public grew attached to him and the others, and their masks became as recognisable as any found in comic books, and the label ‘hero’ was one he received more often than not. 

 

However, Evan never could have done it without his team. He’d be long gone if Batcoon and Early Bird didn’t have his back every step of the way, and he’d never be able to find the words to fully express how much he appreciated them. He trusted them with his life and neither of them had ever let him down, and God knows where he would be right now without either of them looking out for him. 

 

Even now, as they merely sat together on a random roof in the city centre and waited to be called to duty, Evan was struck with thoughts of how glad he was to be here with them. Early Bird and Batcoon were idly trading stories about family members on either side of him, and Evan was fond of the moments like this one when they were able to sit around and chat as friends. It almost made them feel normal. 

 

“Cartoonz’ birthday is coming up and I have no fucking clue about what to get him,” Batcoon announced with slight frustration, staring off into the skyline deep in thought. Just as he and Evan were taught during the hero training sessions they took together in their youth, he always used codenames in place of real names in order to keep their and their loved ones’ identities safe. Batcoon himself was known as Delirious, Evan was ‘Vanoss’ while on duty, and Evan’s husband was ‘Moo’. Early Bird didn’t have a codename but he supposed he didn’t need one when they didn’t know what his real name was anyway, and never really hung out much outside of work (and they probably should. After all, their superhero team wasn’t just him and Delirious any longer, and hadn’t been for a long time). Evan often wondered why ‘Cartoonz’ was an apt name for Delirious’ older brother, but he stopped questioning it some time ago. He’d long given up on attempting to understand how Delirious’ mind worked. 

 

“Bake him a cake! That’s what I’d do,” Early Bird suggested simply as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, voice changer buzzing quietly as he spoke, but Delirious vehemently disagreed. 

 

“No, fuck that!” he scoffed. “There’s no way I wouldn’t burn my entire apartment building to the ground if I tried that. I can’t even make  _ toast _  without burning it; there’s no way I wouldn’t fuck that up!”

 

Evan smirked behind his mask. He has had the pleasure of watching Delirious attempt to cook before, and he knew from first hand experience how true his words were (not that he was one to judge though; he hadn’t cooked anything aside from the odd romantic dinner since he got married, and the quality of his meals were nothing compared to what his husband was capable of whipping up. Brock was a great chef, and it was unfair to compare Delirious’ overcooked garbage to his food). 

 

However, Early Bird reacted much more kindly. “Come on, I’m sure you’re not that bad,” he tried to argue and gently patted him on the shoulder. “I could get you the recipe I use if you’d like? It’s really simple, and my husband loves it when I make it for him, so I know your brother will love it too?” he offered softly. 

 

At the mention of his husband, Delirious glanced over to Evan as he always did when Early Bird started talking about his home life, but Evan could never understand why he did that and Delirious never explained when he asked him. “You overestimate my skills, Early Bird,” Delirious responded but quickly turned back to Evan again. “You think I should make a cake too?” 

 

Evan shrugged. “Only if you want to, man, but when you’re that bad at cooking, then maybe you shouldn’t bother,” he teased and gently bumped his shoulder, only to receive a rough shove and a lighthearted ‘fuck you’ in return. “But, if it helps, my husband bakes me a cake every single year for my birthday and I always appreciate it! I imagine he’s a much better baker than you are though.”

 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Delirious relented, and Evan knew  _ for sure _  he was right.  _ Nobody _  was a better baker than Brock, and that was just the cold hard facts. 

 

“I bet I can give him a run for his money though,” Early Bird piped up, and looked around Delirious to peer at Evan slyly. “I hate to toot my own horn, but I’ve yet to meet anyone that doesn’t love my baking~!” he sang boastfully.

 

Maybe it was rude to laugh at that, but Evan couldn’t help himself. “I’d like to see you try! People think the same thing about  _ his _  baking!” he replied with an equally cocky grin. It was difficult for him to believe that  _ anyone _  could out bake Brock, never mind Early Bird, but maybe he was being a little biased. Hell, there wasn’t  _ anything _  that Brock  _ couldn't _  do in his eyes (except dance, but that was just another quirk of his to love), so he was definitely being a little tendentious. 

 

“Oh my god,” Delirious groaned between them and buried his mask in his hands, confusing Evan and sharply pulling him out of their conversation.

 

“What?” he asked, unsure and perplexed as to what was suddenly bothering him. He couldn’t think of anything that he and Early Bird were talking about that would have upset him. Was he adamantly against Brock and Early Bird having a bake off for some reason? Jealous that he couldn’t bake?

 

Delirious shook his head. “You’re fucking hopeless,” he grumbled with an exasperated sigh which only confused Evan  _ more _ . What on earth was he talking about? When Delirious noticed that both him and Early Bird were still puzzled at what he was saying, he added: “I’m not explaining anything to you. You’ll figure it one day. Maybe.  _ Hopefully _ .”

 

Nothing Delirious was saying was making any sense to him, and every sentence only seemed to raise more questions than the last. Evan had  _ no idea _  as to what Delirious could possibly be talking about, or what it was that he was supposedly missing, and his reaction seemed so absurd and baseless. All that he and Early Bird were doing was talking about their respective husbands; what was there to misunderstand about that?

 

“Figure what out?” Evan asked anyway even though he knew he wouldn’t receive an answer, and Delirious merely shook his head again. When he refused to offer any sort of explanation, Evan looked over to Early Bird to see if he had any ideas, but unfortunately, he was just as clueless and only responded in a light shrug. Neither of them were any help and he was left on his own to piece everything together. 

 

After that, Delirious changed the subject and forced the subject to be dropped. “What if I bought him a gun? He likes guns!” he suggested, and Early Bird immediately shut him down and the conversation moved on, but Evan’s heart wasn’t in it. He contributed here and there, but his mind was elsewhere, and he just couldn’t stop thinking about what Delirious had said. 

 

_ ’You’ll figure it out one day.’ _

 

What was that supposed to mean? What obvious thing could he possibly be missing? 

 

* * *

 

**** Hours later, those questions still lingered in the back of his mind, but he’d given up on trying to answer them for the time being. There was obviously something more to that mystery that Evan was failing to pick up on, but after a long night of patrolling the city, he was much too tired to dwell on it any longer and simply let it go for now. He would try to solve it again on another day, but right then, all he wanted to do was fall into bed next to his husband and get some much needed sleep. 

 

Once Evan had finished stuffing his suit and mask back into the innocuous cardboard box that he usually hid them in, he stepped out of the closet and locked the door behind him to be extra sure that no one accidentally stumbled upon them. Brock had no idea that the closet in Evan’s home office was home to an array of superhero gadgets and weapons, and as far as he was aware, it was just another storage area filled with random junk that didn’t have a place anywhere else, and Evan was determined to keep it that way. 

 

He often felt bad about lying to him and keeping this part of his life secret, but the less Brock knew, then the safer he was, and there was nothing more important to him than Brock’s safety. 

As far as he was concerned, Evan worked the night shift as a bouncer for a nightclub on the other side of town, and wasn’t at all involved in any sort of superhero activities. Evan left home at the same time every night and returned home at the same time every morning as if he were working regular working hours, and Brock didn’t suspect a thing. He would slip through the balcony doors into their living room and sneak into his office as quietly as he could, where he’d change out of his costume and into the outfit he pretended was his work uniform. 

 

Every night like clockwork, he went through this same routine and tried to ignore the immense guilt he’d feel for sneaking around behind his husband’s back. He hated lying to the one person he loved more than anything else, but he desperately needed to keep him safe. There were many things in Evan’s life that he was willing to risk for one reason or another, but Brock was untouchable and he couldn’t bare the thought of something bad happening to him because of his deadly career choice. The mere thought was enough to send a chill down his spine, and he quickly shook the notion out of his head before he got too stressed out. Brock was fine, and he had nothing to worry about. 

 

Once his suit was safely locked away behind closed doors, Evan turned to leave to finally head into the bedroom only to bump into Brock on his way out of the office. “Oh!” Brock squeaked when they collided into each other, and Evan grabbed his shoulders out of reflex to steady him as Brock reached for his waist. “I thought I heard you wandering around,” he added drowsily and flashed him a tired smile that he could never grow bored of seeing. 

 

“Did I wake you?” Evan asked regretfully with a small frown as he carefully lead Brock backwards into the living room. It wouldn’t have been the first time he woke him up when he returned home, and he felt truly bad about it every time. He needed to be more quiet. 

 

Brock shook his head. “Nah, I was awake anyway,” he reassured him, giving him a small squeeze before tugging himself out of his grip so he could turn around and see where he was walking. “How was work? Give anyone the ol’ razzle dazzle?”

 

That phrasing was so unexpected that it caught him off guard for a moment, and then he couldn’t help but laugh. “The  _ what _ ?”

 

“Y’know, the ol’ razzle dazzle,” Brock repeated and turned back around to face him again, stopping them both just outside their bedroom door. “Introduce some troublemakers to ‘Pain’ and ‘Suffering’?” he continued, holding up and wiggling each fist as he said off each nickname. “To ‘Law’ and ‘Order’? ‘Warning’ and ‘Consequence’?”

 

His jokes were almost as ridiculous as the half assed boxing stance he got into to further prove his point, and Evan could only laugh. Brock could be so silly and goofy sometimes, and it was in those moments that he’d be reminded as to just how cute his husband actually was. There wasn’t anything he could do that Evan wouldn’t find absolutely adorable, but he always had an especially soft spot for his terrible jokes (and his smile, but even the toughest of people would have trouble resisting a face as cute as his. No one could blame him for falling so hard so quickly when Brock looked at him the way he did with his bright eyes and a glowing smile that could melt the ice caps off mountains. Falling in love was an inevitability, and he thanked his lucky stars that he somehow managed to trick Brock into falling for him too). 

 

“You think my job is a lot more exciting than it actually is,” Evan replied with an amused chuckle, and nudged him backwards into the bedroom. He felt a sharp pang reverberate through his chest at the small lie he told, knowing that his job was a lot more dangerous than Brock could ever know, and he once again reminded himself that the less Brock knew, the safer he was. It was better this way, even if it didn’t always feel like it. 

 

“Maybe,” Brock hummed as he pulled himself out of Evan’s grip and crossed to the other side of the room to his side of the bed, leaving Evan to shut the door behind them. As Brock climbed under the covers, Evan began to strip out of his fake uniform and started getting ready for bed. “You must get into fights sometimes though, considering all the bruises,” he added in a surprisingly somber tone, and when Evan glanced back up at him, he caught Brock frowning at the various bruises and scars that covered his now bare chest. 

 

His injuries had always been difficult to explain, and while he could hide them relatively easy from family and friends, there was no keeping them from Brock who’d frequently see him out of his clothes. He picked a fake career in security for that reason, as he could always pretend he had to separate a fight at work to explain a black eye or busted lip, but knife and bullet wounds were always more difficult to cover up. Brock must have thought he was the most unlucky person in the world considering how often Evan would tell him some fake story about getting mugged or jumped in an alleyway, and he felt especially bad about those fibs considering that those excuses had happened to Brock  _ for real _ . 

 

Brock was genuinely accident prone compared to Evan who only lied about it. More often than not, Evan would return home from patrolling only to hear about how Brock received another cut or bruise from walking into furniture in the dark, tripping over a rug, or cutting himself by accident while he was cooking. He was always hurting himself in some small way, though strangely enough, these accidents only seemed to occur when Evan wasn’t around. It was almost as if Brock was living the double life of a superhero as well, but he knew that that couldn’t be possible. There were only three heroes in Los Santos, and Brock couldn’t have been any of them; he was too broad shouldered and not nimble enough to be Batcoon (and even if he was, he already knew who Batcoon was and it wasn’t Brock), and Early Bird was married to someone else. It was just an odd coincidence. 

 

Regardless of his reasoning however, Brock was still clearly worried about him getting injured at work, even if he believed his job was much less dangerous than it actually was, and it only reaffirmed his decision to keep the truth from him. “Only sometimes, and it looks a lot worse than it actually is. I’m fine, Brock, don’t worry,” Evan reassured him in a soft tone, and moved to sit on the other side of the bed and caressed his leg. 

 

“It doesn’t look fine,” Brock muttered and sat up so he could reach Evan and gently run his fingers over one of the fading bruises on his shoulder. “You don’t have to work there, you know. We can still afford our bills and rent without it.”

 

Evan knew he was right. He didn’t need that job or any job for that matter, not when Brock was the son of the wealthiest and most influential man in Los Santos, and had no shortage of money. Brock already had a cushy job, and was paid well by his father to represent his company at various galas, balls, auctions, and other charity events he couldn’t attend personally while living in Liberty City. It wasn’t necessary for Evan to work at some fake nightclub, but it was the only cover for his true job that he had, and therefore he had to keep pretending he worked there lest Brock find out the truth. 

 

“I know, but I like working there. It makes me feel more productive, and less like a freeloader living off of my husband’s money,” he explained softly, still gently caressing his leg. It was another small lie, but not one that was far from the truth. 

 

“I know,” Brock muttered with a sigh, and leaned forward to embrace him, resting his chin on his shoulder. “I just don’t like the thought of you getting hurt….”

 

That was a feeling he could certainly relate to. Frowning, Evan wrapped his arms around him in return and tugged him closer, and lightly rubbed his back in an attempt to make him feel better. “I’m sorry,” he apologised, not knowing what else to say. He hated that Brock worried about him, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it when he wasn’t willing to quit. “I’ll try to be more careful.”

 

“That’s all I ask,” Brock said softly, and pulled away to kiss his cheek. He was smiling tiredly at him, barely managing to stay awake, and they suddenly remembered just how late it was. “You should go get ready for bed so I can cuddle you,” he instructed him, and pecked him on the lips again. “It gets awfully lonely in here without you.”

 

It was difficult for him not to smile at that, especially considering that cuddling Brock was all had he wanted to do since he parted with Batcoon and Early Bird, and he gave him a gentle peck of his own before going off to do as he was told. It was the soft, caring moments like these that he lived for, and looked forward to returning home to every night. He never thought it was possible to love someone as much as he loved Brock, and he didn’t know what he would do without him, and did everything in his power to ensure that he would never have to find out. 

 

Brock’s safety was his number one priority, and it was for that reason that he was so insistent on keeping his work life and personal life as separated as possible. If Brock didn’t know about his other identity, then it was less likely that he’d get dragged into trouble because of who he was married to, and Evan would never be able to forgive himself if Brock got hurt because some vindictive asshole with an axe to grind went after the person he cared about most just to get back at him for foiling their nefarious plans. He hated lying to him, but it was necessary in order to ensure that no harm ever came to him. 

 

By the time Evan left their en suite and stepped back into their bedroom, Brock had already dozed off. Smiling to himself, he crossed the room to flick off the lights, before finally climbing into bed next to him. The soft sheets welcomed him and his tired limbs immediately melted into the mattress the second his head hit the pillow, and it wasn’t long after that until Brock was pressed up to his side and with an arm wrapped around him. This was what he had been waiting for all night, and he turned over to hold him close, and now that he finally held his heart in his arms, he slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 

 

* * *

 

**** Out of all the criminals that infested Los Santos, the Dark Rat and his minions were by far the biggest nuisance. They weren’t particularly competent nor threatening, and the crimes they committed were petty at most with the odd felony thrown in between, but they were large in number and therefore tended to be the source of their problems more often than not. 

 

If he was honest, Evan would rather leave it up to the police to apprehend them while they tackled the more serious threats they were better equipped to take down, and it almost felt like a waste of time for them to chase down vandals and petty thieves when there could be more serious crimes occurring in a different part of the city. However, they couldn’t ignore them and let them get away with mugging helpless civilians, so regardless of their low threat level, they still had to chase them down. 

 

Tonight was one such night, and after catching them trying to spray paint their insignia on the town hall, they quickly found themselves chasing the minions down through back alleyways. Their feet pounded hard on the cement as they rushed after them, dashing through narrow streets and leaping over fallen trashcans as they trailed after them. Delirious, being the fastest of the trio, took point and refused to let them out of his line of sight as Evan and Early Bird followed behind as closely as they could. The minions were scrambling around the city directionless as if they didn’t know where to escape to, but they couldn’t run from them forever. The trio were rapidly catching up to them, and it was only a matter of time before they were within reach. 

 

One wrong turn lead them into a parking lot with no escape, and they had no choice but to fight. Delirious wasted no time in engaging the closest criminal, and with one swift punch, any chance of peacefully escorting them to jail was eliminated. The others were quick to fight back, and soon they were locked in an all out brawl. 

 

They were outnumbered five to three, but the difference in skill level evened their odds. After successfully knocking out the first guy, Delirious was jumped by another, and they wrestled around on the ground, while Evan and Early Bird were left to tackle the remaining three. Punches were thrown and easily blocked and returned, and they danced around each other, watching each other’s backs and defending the other as if it was rehearsed. 

 

Fighting alongside Early Bird like this had become second nature to him, and was almost effortless. Little concentration was needed when they were such a well oiled machine, capable of swapping sparring partners without warning as if they could read each other’s minds. It was unbelievable just how well they worked together as if they were fated to be partners, and they were so much trust between them that Evan didn’t worry about watching his own back when he knew Early Bird had it and vice versa. When they were in the zone like this, nothing could stop them, provided they didn’t lose focus. 

 

“You okay over there?” Early Bird called out across the lot towards Delirious, who was struggling to fight someone much bigger than him. 

 

“I’ve got it!” Delirious replied with a grunt as he managed to sweep the criminal’s legs out from underneath and knock him to the ground. “No thanks to you two!”

 

“You’ll be fine!” Evan piped up, quickly grabbing and tugging away one guy before he knocked Early Bird over the head when he wasn’t looking. 

 

“Just give him the ol’ razzle dazzle!” Early Bird added, and the word choice was so familiar that it caught Evan off guard, and he just barely managed to dodge a punch.  _ What did he just say?! _

 

Evan distinctly remembered those exact words being uttered by Brock the night before, and the tone and inflection he used were nigh identical. Early Bird had always used a voice changer when suited up, they all did, and while Evan had never heard his real voice, he could now clearly imagine him sounding just like Brock. 

 

Previous theories of how Brock could be Early Bird that he so quickly ruled out before were beginning to swarm him, but he was still in denial. That couldn’t possibly be true. It had to be a coincidence; it  _ had to be _ . However, as much as he didn’t want to believe it, he was having trouble shaking off the feeling that maybe he was right. After all, they were fairly similar to each other in a multitude of ways, from their appearance right down to their quirks and mannerisms. It all lined up a little too neatly, as much as he didn’t want it to. 

 

“Introduce him to ‘Pain’ and ‘Suffering’! To ‘Law’ and ‘Order’! ‘Warning’ and ‘Consequence’!” Early Bird continued, flawlessly repeating Brock’s words from the night before, punctuating each nickname with punches as he knocked the guy he was fighting out, and the entire world around him stopped. Evan’s stomach twisted with knots, and his heart had all but leaped up into his throat, and he was suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. 

 

...Brock?

 

All his concentration was lost, and Evan was no longer keeping track of the minions, and he didn’t notice the third one sneak up behind Early Bird until it was too late. He could only watch in stunned silence as he reeled his arm back and took a swing as hard as he could, fist connecting hard with the back of Early Bird’s head. 

 

_ Thud. _

 

He dropped to the ground, out cold. 

 

Evan stood frozen, staring down at Early Bird’s unconscious body in shock. That couldn’t be Brock, could it? That couldn’t be  _ Brock _  underneath that mask, right? With every passing second, that possibility was growing more and more likely, and his stomach churned at the thought of his sweet husband lying in a heap in a parking lot after being knocked out cold by a known criminal. He never wanted Brock to get hurt,  _ especially _  in a circumstance like this, and he suddenly felt like he was going to throw up. 

 

However, the fight wasn’t going to stop just because he had an unforeseen epiphany, and he was abruptly knocked out of his daze by another minion grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around. He had only just  _ barely _  managed to dodge the oncoming punch, and at this point, he was so overcome with worry and panic that it might be  _ Brock _  underneath that mask that he threw the hardest punch he possibly could and knocked him out in a single hit. 

 

There was one last guy standing between him and Early Bird, and his blood was boiling at the thought of him having laid a finger on the one person he cherished most in the world. He was good at keeping his cool usually, but this time his fists were clenched tightly by his side, and he wasn’t sure he had enough willpower to stop himself from clawing his throat out with his bare hands. He was fully against murder and taking justice into his own hands, but he was losing grip on his morals and struggling to control his temper. 

 

Luckily, Delirious intervened before he did something he would regret, and tackled the last guy after successfully knocking out the minion he was fighting before. Satisfied that Delirious would be able to take him out on his own, Evan left him to finish the last of the vandals and quickly rushed to Early Bird’s side and dropped down to his knees next to him, heart beating hard in his chest with worry. 

 

“Hey,” he spoke softly in a voice he usually reserved for Brock and Brock alone, and gently gripped his shoulder. “Are you okay?” When Early Bird didn’t rouse, he gently shook his shoulder and repeated the question, but once again received no reaction, and his heart dropped. 

 

There was a chance it wasn’t Brock, he reminded himself, but he wasn’t sure he quite believed that anymore. As long as he was still wearing that mask, Evan could still live in denial and prolong the mystery, and pretend that Brock was back home safe and sound. He wasn’t a superhero that risked his life on the regular, and he wasn’t lying still at his feet out cold. However, Early Bird wasn’t moving and wasn’t responding to his attempts to wake him, and he was given no choice but to remove his mask to check his head for injuries. As much as he didn’t want to know the truth, he was about to find out in a matter of moments. 

 

Evan adjusted his position to cradle Early Bird’s head in his lap so that he would no longer be lying on the cold hard ground. His heart was pounding like a jackhammer in his chest as he reached out towards him with trembling hands, stomach twisting in anticipation, and all too slowly, he inched the mask off his head until he was staring him square in the face. His breath hitched and his heart flatlined as the world he thought he knew so well crumbled down into pieces around him and reality shattered like a glass vase. 

 

Lying unconscious in his arms was his husband, the last person he ever wanted to be in this position, and his shoulders sank in defeat. Brock was Early Bird, and there was no denying it any longer. 

 

His mind was struggling to process this revelation, and his brain had completely shut down. He just couldn’t believe that all this time, it was  _ Brock _  he was fighting alongside with. Evan didn’t know how he managed to keep this from him for so long and how he hadn’t figured this out earlier, but it was obvious in hindsight. It certainly explained all of the mysterious bruises that littered his soft skin at any rate, and deep down he  _ knew  _ it wasn’t possible for someone to get stabbed or shot by a mugger as often as he did. 

 

Even then, he still couldn’t help but feel hurt that Brock hadn’t told him. He supposed he didn’t have a right to complain when he was keeping the exact same secret from him as well, but his chest still ached at the thought regardless. He loved Brock more than anything in the world, and he thought that meant that they could tell each other anything, but for one reason or another, Brock felt that he couldn’t be honest with him about this and it hurt. 

 

Then again, Evan never told Brock the truth about his secret identity because he wanted to ensure he was kept safe, and he had to wonder if Brock felt the same way about him. Was it possible that he didn’t find out about Early Bird until now solely because Brock wanted to protect him? A pang surged through his chest at the thought, and all of his frustration quickly melted away. He couldn’t stay mad at him if that was his reasoning, and he couldn’t help but gently caress his cheek as he stared down at him. He loved him so much, and he hated seeing him injured like this. 

 

While Evan was lost in thought and too wrapped up in his recent discovery to pay attention to the world around him, Delirious had finished fighting the group of criminals and had wandered over to them. “Is he okay?” he asked, not at all phased by the fact that Early Bird wasn’t wearing his mask. 

 

Evan felt the sudden urge to hide Brock’s identity, and was confused and ambivalent as to whether or not it was safe for Delirious to know who he was. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him - Delirious was his one of his best friends and he knew that out of everyone, their secret was most safe with him - but that he didn’t know how to proceed from here now that he knew the truth. His mind was in a muddle and he was having a lot of trouble trying to think straight. 

 

Sighing, Delirious shook his head and gave up on waiting for an answer, and instead knelt down next to them to check on Brock himself. He carefully reached towards his head so he could examine him for any bumps, but again, Evan freaked out and slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch him!” The words spilled from his mouth before he had a chance to think about what he was doing,  and immediately regretted everything when Delirious leaned back and held up his hands defensively. 

 

“Chill, Bat Owl. I just wanted to make sure he was alright! He’s my friend too, you know!” he said slowly and calmly, and Evan could practically feel him judging him from behind his mask. It wasn’t until then that Evan remembered that he wasn’t the only one who knew Brock on a personal level, but he did wonder why Delirious wasn’t as shocked as he was. 

 

“I know man, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” he apologised and rubbed the back of his neck, biting at his lip as he stared down at Brock. He  _ knew _  Delirious was about as likely to hurt him as Evan himself was, and there was no reason for him to snap at him like that. It was completely uncalled for. 

 

Delirious didn’t immediately respond, and in the silence, Evan took the opportunity to gently check Brock’s head for injuries, and his shoulders sank in relief when he didn’t even find something as small as a bump. “I knew you’d figure out he was Moo eventually, but I hoped you would’ve handled it better,” Delirious said bluntly, and Evan’s attention immediately snapped to him.

 

“You knew?!” 

 

“Of course I knew! It was obvious!” Delirious exclaimed, waving his arms wildly in disbelief. “You two literally talk about each other  _ all the time! _  A fucking idiot could’ve connected the dots! You two drove me  _ fucking insane _  because you could NEVER figure it out on your own! I came  _ so close _  to just telling you outright the other night, because your obliviousness was pissing me off so much,” he ranted, and crossed his arms in frustration. 

 

It wasn’t until then that it finally clicked as to why Delirious said he was hopeless when they were on patrol the night before. Both Evan and Brock had been talking about their respective husbands, not at all realising that they were talking about each other the entire time, and Delirious had grown increasingly annoyed with their denseness as he had long figured it out.  _ That’s _  what he was hoping Evan work it out on his own, and now he was kicking himself in hindsight for not coming to that conclusion sooner. It really was obvious now that he thought about it. 

 

In his lap, Brock began to stir and groaned softly as he slowly came to, and easily recaptured all of Evan’s attention. “You two need to talk,” Delirious grumbled, and firmly patted him on the shoulder before walking off to further attend to the criminals, leaving Evan to deal with this situation all on his own. 

 

Brock’s glimmering brown eyes slowly flickered open and focused on Evan staring down at him, and the pair of eyes that ordinarily made his heart flutter only caused it to sink deep into his stomach. “Bat Owl…?” he murmured weakly, and with gentle-handed help, slowly began to sit up. “What happened…?”

 

“One of them caught you by surprise and knocked you out,” he explained softly and handed him back his mask, and Brock eyed it in surprise, seemingly not noticing he wasn’t wearing it until then. Sensing his panic, Evan quickly added: “We took it off to check that your head was okay. Nobody has seen you but myself and Batcoon.”

 

That was enough to reassure him and Brock nodded in acceptance, and Evan himself was comforted in knowing that at least Brock trusted Bat Owl enough to know what he looked like. He didn’t want to tell Evan the truth for one reason or another, but at least he trusted his superhero counterpart. “Now you know that I can kick ass  _ and _  look cute,” Brock joked with a small chuckle as he tugged his mask on, and while he was wearing it, Evan could almost convince himself that Early Bird was someone else. Almost.

 

“Yeah,” he agreed without thinking, until it struck him that Brock didn’t realise who he was talking to and likely wouldn’t appreciate any subtle flirting from one married man to another. “I mean, you’re alright, I’ve seen better,” he blurted out, internally cursing himself for being so awkward, and for saying such things about  _ Brock _  of all people. He was more than just ‘alright’, but Evan was sure that comparing him to an angel wasn’t something that coworkers who weren’t secretly married did. 

 

Brock merely laughed at him, and even with the voice changer built into his mask now in effect again, his sweet giggle was still familiar and Evan had to wonder how he didn’t recognise it before. “Thanks,” he drawled sarcastically, and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a great friend.”

 

‘Friend’ wasn’t a word he had heard Brock call him in a long long time, but he supposed that as far as he was aware, that’s all they were. Brock had no idea that he was currently sitting in a parking lot with his husband, or the man he’d spent many a night making out with in the backseat of his car back when they were still dumb teens in love. He didn’t realise that it was Bat Owl that proposed to him all those years ago, or that it was him he had fretted over and cuddled up next to the night before. There was all this shared history between them from their first date to their wedding day that Brock didn’t realise they had, and it hurt Evan to know that he was the only one who was aware of it. 

 

It was a problem easily solved by confessing the truth, but Evan wasn’t sure he wanted to do that yet. He still believed that the less Brock knew, the safer he was, even if he now realised that Brock was trapezing around the city and putting his life at risk just as often as he was. Even after discovering his secret, Evan didn’t want to risk any harm coming to him if he were to find out the truth about him. As long as the identity of Bat Owl’s husband remained a secret, then Brock would be safe. 

 

When Evan didn’t respond, Brock turned his attention to Delirious who was finishing up restraining the criminals. “Need any help?” he called out to him and slowly stood up, stumbling and wobbling slightly once he got to his feet after a sudden rush to his head, which didn’t go unnoticed. Evan eyed him in concern as he got up after him and followed him over to Delirious. 

 

“Yeah, it’ll be nice not to have to do everything  _ my-damn-self _ !” he asserted bitterly as he tightened the handcuffs on one of the minions that was just beginning to rouse. Their trio was usually good at evenly distributing the amount of work between them but Evan couldn’t deny that Delirious had carried the team tonight. Between Early Bird getting knocked out, and Evan’s internal crisis over his identity, they certainly hadn’t pulled their weight, but Evan shouldered the blame. After all, it was  _ his  _ fault that Brock got knocked out in the first place, and as Delirious rightly pointed out, he could’ve handled the revelation a lot better. 

 

Brock chuckled in response and reached for one of the pairs of handcuffs attached to his utility belt, and began to make his way over to the last unbound criminal, but Evan stopped him in his tracks. “Wait,” he urged him, biting his lip when Brock turned back to him curiously. “You… you should go home and rest your head,” he advised him, and barely resisted the urge to reach out and touch him in way he hadn’t touched Early Bird before. 

 

Both Brock and Delirious looked at him for a moment confused as that wasn’t something he’d typically suggest after a minor injury. They were durable; a short knockout wasn’t anything that they couldn’t walk away from, but things were different now. That was before he knew that it was  _ Brock _  underneath that mask, and as always, his safety and health was his number one priority. He couldn’t stand the thought of him being hurt and he needed to make sure he was alright. 

 

“I’m okay, Bat Owl, I can keep going,” Brock reassured him, and began heading over to the criminal, but once again, Evan stopped him. 

 

“We could take it from here, if you wanted to go home early and lie down. It’s almost the end of your patrol anyway so…” he trailed off, trying and failing to ignore the way Delirious’ eyes were boring into the side of his head. He clearly knew what was going on, and he didn’t seem happy about it. 

 

Unsure, Brock looked over at Delirious for guidance who merely shrugged. “He’s the boss,” he said flippantly, and Evan knew  _ for sure _  that there was something wrong with him as Delirious  _ never _  referred to him as being their leader; he was always the first to argue otherwise. 

 

“Oh, well… if you insist…” Brock conceded albeit reluctantly, and handed Evan the pair of handcuffs he was holding. “Are you sure you don’t need me? I’m good to finish the night…?”

 

Evan nodded. “We’ll be fine. Go get some rest,” he instructed him, and clapped him on the shoulder, and  _ finally _  Brock gave in. 

 

“Alright. I’ll see you guys tomorrow night,” he said, waving at Delirious as he bid them both goodbye, before ascending to the roof of the nearest building and began to make his way back to their apartment. 

 

With a heavy heart, Evan watched him go until he disappeared out of sight, and then knelt down next to the final criminal to bind his wrists together. For once in his life, he wasn’t looking forward to returning home and he almost hoped that something else happened that kept him out in the city for longer. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face Brock and pretend that he didn’t know anything about his secret life, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He had to go home sooner or later, and there was no avoiding it. In the meantime, he’d wait here with Delirious for the cops to show up and formally arrest the criminals they’d apprehended, but after that, he would have to start living a bigger lie than he had lived so far, and his heart constricted at the thought. 

 

Delirious’ unwavering gaze was fixed on him as he firmly closed the handcuffs around the minion’s wrists, but he didn’t speak until Evan looked up at him. “He would’ve been fine, you know,” he pointed out, arms folded across his chest, and Evan was quick to look away again.

 

“I know,” he admitted with a sigh, gaze cast downward as if he were being scolded by a parent. 

 

“Then what the fuck are you  _ doing _  then?!” Delirious asked agitated, and dropped down to sit next to him on the ground as he watched Evan groan to himself and bury his mask in his hands. “Just because you  _ finally _  know Early Bird is your husband now, doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly not capable of doing his damn job.”

 

“ _ I know, _ ” Evan groaned again into the palms of his hands, and then tugged them away from his face and stared up into the night sky. He knew Delirious was right and that he had a point, but he still couldn’t bare the thought of  _ Brock _  being out here and doing what they do after he had just been knocked out. Hell, he couldn’t the bare the thought that  _ Brock got knocked out at all _ . His sweet soft husband shouldn’t be out here, and it pained him to know the amount of danger he was throwing himself into on a nightly basis instead of staying at home where it was safe. “I just don’t want him to get hurt…” he added quietly, and looked back down at the ground again. 

 

There was a brief moment of silence between them in which Delirious merely sighed, and took a second to choose his next words carefully. “Well, he’s going to get hurt, Bat Owl,” he said bluntly, and Evan swallowed hard. “We all do. It’s part of the job, and Early Bird is good at it and knows what he’s doing. He can handle getting knocked out, especially considering this isn’t the first time it happened,” he pointed out, causing Evan to wince at the reminder of previous injuries he’d watched Brock sustain without even knowing the true gravity of the situation. “He can protect himself, you know.”

 

Evan sighed deeply. “I know…” he said so quietly that his voice was barely audible, but Delirious still heard him and shook his head. 

 

There was a dull ache in his chest that wasn’t going away in spite of Delirious trying to talk some sense into him, and he knew that this was something he wasn’t going to be able to accept anytime soon. Everything felt different now and as if his whole world was flipped on its side, and he didn’t know what to do anymore. He didn’t know what the future held for them, and he was terrified at the thought of what could happen if a mission went wrong. The stakes were much higher than they were the night before, and he was suddenly faced with the very real possibility that he could lose everything as quick as a gunshot. 

 

“You both need to sort your shit out, Bat Owl, before it fucks us over,” Delirious said, eyeing him carefully. “You need to tell him the truth.”

 

“No!” Evan exclaimed almost immediately with sudden vigor, head snapping up at the suggestion, and catching Delirious by surprise. There was only one aspect of this new development that Evan was sure on, and that was that Brock couldn’t find out about his secret identity. It had to stay a secret for to ensure that he was kept safe. 

 

“What?! Why not?” Delirious asked confused and exasperated. “You know about him now! Why can’t he find out about you?!”

 

“ _ Because _  I don’t want him to get hurt because of me…” Evan admitted, voice trailing off and getting quieter as a sharp pang shot through his chest. The thought of something terrible happening to Brock and it being his fault in even the smallest way made him feel sick to his stomach, and he couldn’t let that happen. 

 

“He’s going to get hurt  _ anyway _ !” Delirious groaned loudly which did  _ nothing _  to ease Evan’s worries. “We get hurt  _ all the time _  just by doing our jobs! It’s not going to make  _ any _  difference if he finds out who you are! It doesn’t fucking matter so just  _ tell him _  so we don’t have to keep lying anymore! I’m SICK of pretending I don’t know who he is! Don’t make me keep pretending!” he whined and buried his mask in his palms. 

 

On one hand, Evan could see where Delirious was coming from and he understood his point, but truth be told, he felt like Delirious was oversimplifying the problem. While yes, Brock was likely to get hurt anyway and there wasn’t much he could do to stop that. Even if he was willing to confess the truth, he had no right to dictate what Brock did and didn’t do, and he couldn’t make him give up fighting crime (even if he was tempted to ask). Evan had no intention of becoming the type of husband who controlled their spouse, and especially wasn’t going to stop him from doing something that he himself was doing as well. 

 

However, while he couldn’t protect him from everything (and a part of him felt like a failure of a husband because of that), he could still do his best to lessen the chances of Brock getting hurt. If too many people knew the truth, then the chances of criminals and villains finding out they were married increased, and so did the risk of them exploiting his one glaring weakness to get what they wanted. Evan would do absolutely anything if it meant keeping Brock safe, and he couldn’t let the wrong people discover that and use it to their advantage. He couldn’t let him get kidnapped or beaten to a pulp by someone with a vendetta against him, and goodness knows there were plenty of goons in this city who wanted to see Evan broken, dead, and miserable, and would go to any lengths to destroy him. Brock was the one thing he cared about most in the entire world, and he couldn’t afford to lose him. It would be the end of him. 

 

Therefore, no matter how much sense Delirious was making, Evan wasn’t prepared to take that risk and pledged to keep his mouth shut. Maybe he was worrying for nothing, but he’d rather be dramatic for no reason than lose his moon and stars. Even now as if he was merely considering the possibility, Brock’s bright smile and melodious laugh was vivid in his mind, and his soul was fracturing at the thought of there being a day when he wasn’t around. He couldn’t let that happen; he just  _ couldn’t _ . 

 

“I’m sorry,” Evan eventually replied, earning another groan from Delirious. “The less he knows the better.”

 

Delirious sighed heavily. “You drive me up the fucking wall sometimes, you know that?” he muttered into the palms of his hands as he slowly dragged them down his face in frustration. 

 

“Just returning the favour,” Evan teased in spite of himself and playfully shoved his shoulder, small weak smile hidden behind his mask. They were still good friends, even if they had their disagreements sometimes. 

 

Delirious merely shot him a look but ultimately let the subject drop as he knew that wasn’t an argument he was going to win, but just because Delirious wasn’t going to push the topic further didn’t mean Evan could forget about it. He still had to return home and face Brock after everything that happened that night, and he wasn’t looking forward to lying. 

 

The police came and went, and hauled the criminals off to the station with them to be questioned further, leaving Evan and Delirious alone again. They still had another hour left of patrol, but like Brock, Delirious insisted he go home early and get some rest as he was much too frazzled to continue. Evan argued with him at first but once again, he knew Delirious was right, and reluctantly conceded. He wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on fighting crime when he couldn’t stop thinking about Brock, and so it was better that he made his way back home to where his love was waiting for him. 

 

With his head in the clouds, the journey home didn’t last as long as he would’ve liked, and Evan found himself sneaking in through the balcony to their living room all too soon. The apartment was silent aside from the quiet ruffling of sheets in the bedroom - a tell tale sign that Brock was home and had followed his advice about going to bed. Nothing was out of place or out of the ordinary, and as he slipped into his office to go through the usual rigmarole of hiding his suit and switching into his fake work uniform, he had to wonder where Brock was hiding his costume so securely. Evan thought he knew him and their apartment like the back of his hand, and now it felt like he didn’t know them at all - as if he were a stranger in his own home. 

 

Once his costume was locked away safe and sound, Evan headed into the bedroom feeling unnecessarily anxious, and he paused at the doorway the second he laid his eyes on him. Brock was tucked in bed and fast asleep as he suspected, snoozing soundly and peacefully, and blissfully unaware that Evan had found out his secret and was tearing himself apart inside over the truth. He lay facing him with his arm sprawled over Evan’s empty side of the bed, and Evan knew that there was no crawling in next to him without waking him up, and he sighed as he treaded into the adjoined bathroom to get ready for bed. 

 

It wasn’t unusual for him to be met with this sight upon returning home after work, and it all seemed so normal and familiar when it shouldn’t be. Evan half expected to see bits and pieces of the Early Bird costume strewn around their bedroom or the mask left abandoned on the dresser - some sign that Brock really  _ was _  Early Bird - but everything was packaged away neatly and out of sight. It almost seemed like the reveal was a weird fever dream that he would wake up from at any moment, but the sensation of the ice cold water he splashed on his face nipping at his skin didn’t rouse him and only proved that he wasn’t dreaming. This was real and he was awake, and there was no fooling himself otherwise. 

 

Evan took his time in the bathroom, but eventually his exhaustion caught up with him and he wanted nothing more than to put an end to this emotionally taxing night. After flicking off all the lights and gently closing the doors, it was time to finally climb into bed as carefully as he could to avoid waking up Brock, but his attempts were fruitless and he was jostled awake by Evan’s movement. 

 

Humming and mumbling quietly, Brock shuffled closer to him in his half asleep state and cuddled up next to him. “Hello handsome,” he murmured quietly into his neck as he wrapped an arm around him, and Evan couldn’t help but smile in spite of everything. He may have been lied to, but at the end of the day, he still loved Brock very much, and these soft moments in the dead of the night meant more to him than words would ever describe. His anguish slowly melted away for the time being, and he appreciated Brock’s uncanny ability to comfort him even now. As long as they were together, then everything would be alright. 

 

“Shhhh go back to sleep,” he whispered as he gently tugged him closer, and Brock quickly dozed off again as Evan gently caressed his back. 

 

After everything that happened and the emotional turmoil he had put himself through, Evan was so tired and his husband’s arms so warm and safe that it wasn’t long until he drifted off after him. There was still a lot to think about and consider, but it had been a long night for the both of them, and rest was much needed. Considerations for his changed future could wait until morning; right now, all he wanted to do was sleep next to his other half and let this horrid night come to an end. 

 

* * *

 

**** It had been a week since Evan had discovered his husband’s secret identity, and he was still having trouble adjusting to the truth, much to Delirious’ chagrin. 

 

Over and over again, Delirious would remind him that Early Bird was a competent hero who didn’t need protecting or constant babysitting, but Evan had a lot of difficulty disassociating him from the giggling soft sweetheart he’d fallen in love with ten times over. He knew Delirious was right and that Early Bird was more than capable of holding his own in a fight, especially when he’d saved their asses more times than he can count, but Early Bird was also  _ Brock _ , his sweet husband who baked marmalade muffins for charity bake sales and tried to rescue every stray dog they stumbled upon. Evan knew he didn’t need protecting, but the fear of losing him was more alive than ever, and no amount of pep talks from Delirious was going to help him shake it off. 

 

They were lucky in that there weren’t any major crimes over the past week, but Evan couldn’t help but worry about Brock’s safety regardless. He had become increasingly aware of just how little armor Brock wore, and while the bulletproof vest protected his chest from gunfire, the rest of him was exposed and susceptible to injury, and Evan was terrified of him getting hurt. All it would take is one stray bullet and that could be the end. 

 

It had gotten to the point where Evan was reluctant to let Brock be alone any time he was on duty. If Evan himself couldn’t be with him, then he ordered Delirious to patrol with and cover him to ensure that he had backup if anything were to go wrong. Before he knew his identity, Evan had no reservations in allowing Early Bird to tend to certain matters alone, but nowadays he was twice as protective of him, and couldn’t stand the thought of something terrible happening to him because there was no one around to watch his back. 

 

Delirious knew what he was up to from day one and was brutally honest about how much he didn’t approve of Evan constantly assigning Brock a babysitter when they both knew he could protect himself, but followed his orders anyway if only to give Evan the peace of mind. Evan  _ knew _  Delirious was right and that he was overreacting, but it was something that he had to work through and he wasn’t yet close to accepting that sometimes Brock would be on the front lines of danger. He knew that eventually Brock was going to get hurt as it was an inevitability in their line of work, especially considering he’d been hurt already many times in the past, but he wanted to keep him as safe as he possibly could. He was aware that he was going a little overboard, but losing Brock was his greatest fear and he couldn’t let that happen. He needed him to be safe. 

 

That was why tonight, for the umpteenth time, Evan insisted that he and Brock patrol the city together. Often, they’d split the team up into groups of three so they could cover more ground as they patrolled the city and then requested backup if they needed it, but lately, Evan insisted that Brock have a partner while either he or Delirious patrolled alone. He hadn’t let Brock patrol by himself since he was unmasked a week prior. Evan had never coddled him to this degree before, and he was sure that Brock was beginning to catch on, and he wasn’t in the least bit surprised when Brock eventually confronted him about it. 

 

“Okay, what’s going on?” he asked not long after they had split up from Delirious and were left alone in a back alleyway behind an abandoned warehouse. Between his tone and the way his arms were folded across his chest with his shoulders set firm, it was obvious that he was frustrated. 

 

“What do you mean?” Evan countered, playing dumb but that didn’t stop Brock from ranting. 

 

“Why are you babysitting me all of the time all of a sudden? Is this because those goons knocked me out last week? Because that was a  _ fluke _  Bat Owl; you  _ know _  I’m better than that usually!” Brock argued, making the exact same point that Delirious made every time they had the chance to talk about it. 

 

However, unlike in his conversations with Delirious, he couldn’t tell him that it was because he wanted to keep him safe. Evan still wasn’t ready to tell Brock the truth about their secret identities just yet, and he was struggling to come up with a decent excuse that he might accept. “I know that, I’m just… worried,” he confessed, clenching his eyes shut tight in immediate regret of his words. 

 

“Why?” Brock asked in surprise. “It was only one punch, and I was barely unconscious for two minutes! I’ve been through worse!”

 

Evan knew that Brock was just trying to reassure him, but the reminder of what previous dangers he had been in was not helping him feel better in the slightest. “I know, but you were still unconscious though, and that’s… not good,” he said, biting his lip behind his mask. His arguments were flimsy, and he was digging himself into a hole he was never going to climb out of unscathed. 

 

“It’s not as bad as getting shot or stabbed though, and those incidents never bothered you as much as this one!” Brock pointed out, and Evan swore under his breath. “Seriously, what’s going on? Why are you babysitting me so much?” He paused. “...Do you not  _ trust me _  anymore?”

 

“What?! Of course I trust you!” Evan blurted out, momentarily forgetting that he was arguing with his  _ colleague _ , not his husband, and barely bit back a remark of how he trusted him more than anyone in the world. It still pained him that Brock had been lying to him about his secret identity, but he couldn’t be mad at him about that when he was doing the exact same thing in return. 

 

“It doesn’t feel like it!” Brock exclaimed, clearly offended, and his hurt tone struck a chord deep in his heart. “You’ve been shadowing me  _ all  _ week, and refusing to let me do  _ anything _  on my own, and if  _ you’re _  not watching me, then you make  _ Batcoon _  watch me even though he clearly doesn’t think it’s necessary! Seriously, Bat Owl,  _ what’s going on?! _ ”

 

There was no way for Evan to answer that question without telling him the truth, and tense silence fell over them when he didn’t respond. He didn’t need to see Brock’s face to know that he was upset at him, and he felt terrible for treating him this way. All he wanted to do was to keep him safe, but in the process, he hurt Brock’s feelings and he felt  _ dreadful _  and sick to his stomach. He hated hurting him like this, and he was beginning to think that maybe Delirious was right and he should’ve been honest with him from the beginning. 

 

Just as he was about to apologise, a stray trash can fell over seemingly on its own and stole their attention, immediately putting them on high alert. Trash cans didn’t fall over on their own and there weren’t any rodents or cats in the vicinity to knock them over which meant that there had to be someone else here. 

 

They were being  _ watched _ . 

 

Evan came to that conclusion a second too late, and when he whipped back around to relay this information to Brock, he had turned just in time to see a familiar nemesis pull his partner into a headlock and point a gun to his head, and his heart dropped. “AHA!” the Dark Rat exclaimed all too proudly, and Evan could only imagine the smug grin he was wearing from behind that ugly rat mask of his. “You’ve been defeated by the element of surprise once again! I thought you owls were supposed to have eyes on the back of your heads!”

 

Of course, just when Evan thought that things couldn’t possibly get any worse,  _ he  _ showed up. “Birds don’t work like that, Dark,” he muttered in annoyance, barely taking note of how a crowd of rat-masked minions crawled out of the woodwork and circled them, his attention too focused on the gun barrel pressed against his husband’s head to care about anything else. 

 

Not once in his entire career had Evan ever been afraid of the Dark Rat as usually he was much too incompetent to do any real damage to anyone, but for the first time unbeknownst to him, the Dark Rat held his biggest weakness in his arms and was one trigger pull away from killing the one person he loved more than life itself. Every single member of his fucked up little gang could pull their weapons on Evan all at once, and it wouldn’t unnerve him nearly as much as that single pistol aimed point blank at his husband’s brain. There was no way he would survive if the Dark Rat were to fire, and Evan was frozen in place in fear - too afraid of that possibility to try and stop him. Everything was at stake here, and he had to carefully think out his every move. 

 

“‘Birds don’t work like that, Dark!’ Who asked you?!” the Dark Rat spat, throwing on a whiny high pitched voice that was supposed to mock Evan but missed the mark by a wide margin. Brock struggled and squirmed in his arms, and when they noticed how much difficulty their leader was having restraining him, two of his larger minions broke off from the group to take Brock out of his hands. They each took one of his arms and forced him onto his knees, making it easier for the much shorter Dark Rat to point the pistol to the back of his head. 

 

“What do you want?!” Evan blurted out, growing more and more antsy the longer there was a gun directed at his husband. 

 

“VENGEANCE!” the Dark Rat exclaimed dramatically, raising a fist in the air as he spoke. “You and your squad of super-losers hauled off a bunch of my boys to jail last week and I will NOT stand for it!” he ranted, and Evan couldn’t help but roll his eyes behind his mask at the theatrics. “Scamper was late to his kid’s birthday party because of you, and there  _ will _  be retribution.” A chorus of cheers sparked from the crowd surrounding them in support of their leader’s tirade. 

 

This entire spectacle was ridiculous, and Evan hated that Brock was in the center of it and one bullet away from death. There was a significant difference between missing one birthday and  _ shooting someone in the head _ , but when did a villain in this city ever think logically? He’d be out of a job if anyone in Los Santos took even a moment to think their actions through, and the Dark Rat was the biggest offender of them all. Evan’s blood was boiling at the thought of him potentially losing  _ Brock _  over something as small as one guy being  _ late _ , and it was taking every fibre of his being not to march over there and beat him with that pistol, but he couldn’t risk Brock getting shot. It wasn’t worth it. 

 

“... _ Retribution _ ?” Evan repeated, venom lacing his tone. 

 

“Yeah, retribution,” the Dark Rat confirmed proudly as if he had already won. “See; I don’t know if you noticed on account of your tiny bird brain, but I have a gun pointed at your  _ friend’s _  tiny bird brain,” he jabbed the barrel into the back of Brock’s head for emphasis, “and the only thing stopping me from pulling the trigger is the kindness in my heart… but I still might, if you don’t meet my one  _ very simple _  demand.”

 

This was far from the first time that the Dark Rat had threatened them, but it  _ was _  the first time Evan was seriously considering complying. Before, he’d outright refuse to do anything a known criminal asked of him regardless of what they were requesting, but this situation was different. This time, a gun was pointed at the most important person in the world to him, and he would do anything to ensure his safety, and without a solid plan that guaranteed his rescue, agreeing to the Dark Rat’s demands seemed like his only choice. 

 

“...What do you want?” Evan asked again in a softer tone than before, arms folded, and eyes fixed on the pistol in his enemy’s hands. 

 

“ _ Bat Owl! _ ” Brock hissed, surprised that Evan was indulging him, but was quickly silenced by one of the goons restraining him who thumped him on the back when he started to speak. Evan visibly tensed at the light punch, and grinded his teeth together to stop himself from snapping at them. 

 

Even the Dark Rat himself seemed pleasantly surprised that Evan was humouring him, and he perked up considerably. “Well, I’m glad you asked, Hedwig,” he began, arrogant as ever, and paused for a moment for dramatic effect. “...I want you to take off your mask. Your identity in exchange for  _ his _  life,” he finished, and gestured to Brock. 

 

Evan froze. He wanted him  _ to take off his mask _ . He wanted him to reveal his secret identity. Even without Brock sitting right in front of him clueless as to who was under the owl mask, this was something that Evan  _ never _  wanted to do, but Brock’s presence only made him all that more reluctant.  _ This _  was not how he wanted him to find out the truth, and once again, he felt guilty for not listening to Delirious and confessing to him earlier when he had the chance. However, Brock’s life and his safety was more important to him than anything else, and without any other alternatives that didn’t put his life further at risk, it seemed like the only viable option. 

 

“...and if I take off my mask… you’d let him go?” Evan asked slowly just to be sure, and again, Brock was shocked at his compliance. 

 

“Bat Owl don’t! You can’t-” The goon whacked him again to silence him, and the repeated beatings were only encouraging Evan to agree just to get them to stop hurting him. 

 

The Dark Rat thought about it for a moment, before nodding slowly. “I can promise you I won’t kill him if you do what I say,” he said, standing up straight, “but my trigger finger is feeling real itchy so I wouldn’t think about it for too long if I were you.”

 

Evan weighed the options in his head, but it was clear as to what he must do. He couldn’t charge at the Dark Rat or any of his minions without risking him shooting Brock, and even if by some miracle he didn’t fire, there were too many goons around that he wouldn’t be able to get near him without getting dogpiled. If he outright refused, then the Dark Rat might shoot, and even though Evan had a hunch he was bluffing, there was too much at stake for him to take that risk. He could try stalling until Delirious found them, but there was no telling how long it would take for him to get here, and he didn’t have the time to spare. 

 

That only left removing his mask and showing a  _ criminal  _ his face, and as terrible of an idea that was, it would be worth it in the end if it meant Brock would walk away from this alive and well. 

 

Taking a deep breath to prepare himself and steady his rapid heartbeat, Evan reached up and grabbed the bottom of his mask, but Brock stopped him before he could take it off. 

 

“NO! Stop! What are you doing?!” he blurted out in rapid succession, and the goons gave up on trying to keep him quiet when it was obvious he wasn’t going to stop talking. 

 

“...I’m trying to protect you,” Evan said softly as if it was obvious, and to him, it was. There was no limit to what it would do if it ensured Brock’s safety, regardless of whether he agreed to it or not. Evan would gladly sacrifice himself ten times over without a second thought if that’s what it took. 

 

“Yeah, he’s trying to protect you!” the Dark Rat repeated in annoyance that Evan’s unmasking was interrupted. “Keep going, Owl.”

 

“No,  _ don’t _ !” Brock objected again, and the Dark Rat groaned in exasperation behind him. “Bat Owl, you  _ can’t _  do this! You have to protect yourself and your family! You can’t risk their safety for my sake!”

 

Brock was so kind and thoughtful of others, and it made his heart ache knowing that he didn’t understand that that’s precisely what Evan was trying to do. He had no idea of just how deeply Bat Owl loved and cared for him, and that he was the only family that Evan had left and that he’d rather  _ die _  than let something bad happen to him. Brock was clueless, and without the full story, he couldn’t see that this was the only way this scene could end. 

 

“And you have a family that loves you and needs more than anything for you to be safe,” Evan pointed out surprisingly calmly considering how much his heart was twisting in his chest, and couldn’t help but remind him of how much he cared in the off chance that he wouldn’t get another chance to later. 

 

“I-I know, but you still shouldn’t risk your own life and your family’s safety for mine. You need to protect your family. You need to protect  _ him _ ,” Brock said vaguely, but Evan knew exactly who he meant and his words pierced through his chest like a lance. 

 

“...I know,” he said softly, finally and full of feeling, and without further hesitation, he tore the mask off his head as quick as a band aid. 

 

The cold air pinched at his warm cheeks, and the reveal of his face was met with a chorus of gasps and murmurs from the audience of criminals watching them that in the heat of the moment he had forgotten were there. The Dark Rat himself seemed surprised that Evan had actually done it and scrutinised every little detail of his face, but Evan paid him no heed, and instead his attention was focused solely on Brock. 

 

The way his body tensed in shock, and then slumped when the reality sank in told him more about how Brock was feeling than words ever could, and it crushed him. He looked so betrayed and defeated, as if his whole world just came crashing down around him, and Evan _l_ _ oathed  _ himself for causing him to feel that way. 

 

“I’m sorry,” Evan murmured quietly, but Brock didn’t respond and continued staring ahead at him blankly. With the mask covering his face, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly how he was feeling, but it wasn’t hard to guess. Disbelief, pain, hurt, betrayal, frustration - they were the same emotions that rushed through Evan when he had found out the truth a week prior, and now Brock was experiencing that same jumble of feelings that had tugged on his heartstrings and had swarmed his brain a week before. 

 

The reveal wouldn’t have been nearly this rough for him if Evan had have sat him down at home and confessed that he knew who he really was just as Delirious had suggested he did, but no, Evan refused to listen to him and they were both paying for it now. All Evan had wanted to do was to keep Brock safe, but his persistence in keeping his secret only served to cause this situation to be worse than it could have been. Not only was Brock on his knees in a dimly lit alleyway surrounded by known criminals with a gun pressed to the back of his head, but he had to deal with the newfound knowledge that his husband had been lying to him about his profession  _ for years _  on top of all of that. 

 

The news had clearly broken him, and Evan felt like the worst husband that had ever lived because of it. 

 

“Ugh,” the Dark Rat groaned after a while in irritation and resentment, bringing Evan back to reality. “I don’t know who you are! I was hoping you’d be some sort of local celebrity or something, but instead you’re just  _ some guy _ !” he exclaimed as if he was offended. “And you’re  _ attractive _  too?! Couldn’t you have been ugly and let me have  _ this one thing _  instead of being Mr. Perfect McPerfectson all the time?! It’s  _ frustrating _ ,” he ranted, groaning again before eventually gesturing at his mask. “Just put your mask back on so I don’t have to look at you anymore! Asshole….”

 

As confusing as that entire outburst was, Evan did as he was told and wasted no time in tugging the mask back on as if that simple action could reverse time and take them back to a day when Brock didn’t resent him for lying. At least if he was wearing the mask, he could pretend that he had never taken it off and that everything was okay; Brock wasn’t brokenhearted and crestfallen, and they’d both return home at the end of the night and cuddle in bed like nothing was wrong. The future of their relationship wasn’t in jeopardy, and Evan could be sure that Brock still loved him as much as he loved Brock. 

 

Even with his mask on, Brock’s mood didn’t seem to change, but Evan couldn’t read him when he was still wearing that damn eagle mask. He wanted to rip it off of him solely so he could finally understand exactly how he was feeling and how he felt about him as not knowing was killing him inside, but part of him never wanted to see the pained look in his eyes that he couldn’t stop imagining. At this point, he just wanted to talk to him so he could explain himself and try to repair everything he had ruined before he lost him forever, but with the Dark Rat and his minions around, he couldn’t say a word. They’d have to wait until they were alone and could talk safely in private. 

 

That wasn’t going to happen soon however, as the Dark Rat wasn’t quite finished with them just yet. “Bring them inside and tie them up! We’ll figure out what to do with them in the morning,” he ordered and gestured to the abandoned warehouse behind him, still visibly annoyed that his ploy to find out Bat Owl’s identity didn’t work out the way he had hoped. 

 

It wasn’t until then that the Dark Rat finally lowered the gun away from Brock, and the second he began to walk away, Evan made a dive towards Brock in a last ditch attempt to rescue him, but failed. There were too many goons surrounding them, and they all converged in on them as soon as Evan moved, and he barely got within a foot of him before countless hands were pulling him back. 

 

Brock made no effort to fight them off and was now refusing to look at him, and that hurt him more than anything else could, and in the end, Evan gave up. There were too many goons for just two people to fight, and there was nothing else he could do but let the bad guys drag them away and hope Delirious would find them soon. 

 

* * *

 

 

It was impossible for them to tell how much time had passed since they were bound together, but the palpable silence between them made it feel like the hours were dragging on. 

 

At this point, the Dark Rat’s minions had left them alone in the tiny office room inside the large abandoned warehouse they had taken over as a base of operations. Evan doubted this was the Dark Rat’s main headquarters as the office and warehouse in general was fairly barebones with little evidence of regular use, and that it was merely serving as a place to stash his hostages for the night. Hopefully they wouldn’t be here that long, and Delirious would quickly find and respond to the distress signal Evan activated on his watch before the Dark Rat returned in the morning. 

 

The office was fairly devoid of furniture save for a heavy steel desk, empty metal shelves, and the two plastic fold-up chairs that he and Brock were perched on. Their chairs were back-to-back, meaning that he couldn’t look at Brock even if he wanted to, and the handcuffs binding their hands together were looped around each other making it difficult for them to move around if they were to attempt an escape. That coupled with the locked door and high windows made breaking out from their makeshift prison nigh impossible. Their fingers would occasionally brush together, but Evan was terrified to hold his hand in case Brock would reject him - a fear he hadn’t really felt since they first started dating many years ago. 

 

Brock had yet to speak a word to him the entire time they were locked up together which wasn’t a good sign, and Evan doubted that it was because of a lack of privacy. They were the only people in the room, and as far as he could tell, there was no one outside guarding the door that could potentially eavesdrop in on their conversation. The distant sound of muffled laughter through the wall suggested that whoever was supposed to be looking after them wasn’t paying them any attention and would be too enthralled in whatever was going on in the warehouse to care that they were talking. If Brock was silent, it couldn’t be because he was scared of being overheard, but because something was  _ wrong _ .

 

Brock was upset with him; he had to be. It was the only explanation as to why he was giving him the silent treatment. The longer they were quiet, the more unnerved Evan became, and he desperately wished Brock would just say  _ something _  so he at least knew where he stood with him. Evan was too afraid to speak first in case he made things worse, which meant he was stuck in an anxious limbo waiting for Brock to break the silence, and part of him wondered if Brock was purposefully dragging this out to torture him. 

 

When he finally spoke, the flimsy wall that had been built between them was torn down and an array of emotions came crashing down with it. “...Evan?” Brock whispered quietly, and the mere mention of his name was all it took to make his stomach flip. “You… never really worked at a nightclub, did you?” 

 

That one soft spoken question broke what little resolve he had left, and Evan couldn’t stop himself from babbling out every little secret he had been hiding for years. “...No, I didn’t, I’m sorry! I made it up so I had an excuse to explain why I was never home at night! I couldn’t tell you that I was out doing  _ this _ ! I could’ve put you in danger!” Evan finally confessed. “I wanted to tell you the truth and I  _ hated _  lying to you, but I  _ had to _  to keep you safe.  _ Everything _  I’ve done was to keep you safe. I just wanted to protect you….”

 

His tone softened towards the end of his rambling, but his heart rate never slowed. This conversation was long overdue, but so far Evan felt no relief after admitting the truth he had been hiding for years. It should have felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, but instead, his heart hung low and heavy in his chest like an anchor dropped at sea. Brock was hurt and upset with him, and he couldn’t shake off the overwhelming feeling of self loathing that was beginning to set in. He should’ve been honest with him from the fucking beginning.  _ God _ , he felt like such an  _ asshole _ . 

 

Brock was silent for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. “I guess I can’t be mad at you, considering I was doing the exact same to you for the exact same reasons…” he mused aloud, and his words made Evan feel slightly better. “After you’d leave for work, I’d wait an hour to make sure you were gone before suiting up to do this, and then at the end of the night, I’d try to sneak back in before your shift ended so that when you got home, you’d think I’d never left…”

 

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. “Is that why you’re always late?” he asked, having an epiphany. 

 

“Yeah,” Brock confirmed with a light chuckle. “And it’s also why I’d always insist on heading home before you and Batcoon - I was trying to beat you back to the apartment.” 

 

Evan slumped in his chair. “Everything is starting to make sense now,” he muttered in realisation, and Brock let out another laugh in response that eased some of the stress he was feeling. If Brock was giggling, then maybe they’d be okay after all. 

 

“Yeah… and it explains all the injuries you’ve been getting at work…” he pointed out. “I could never understand how someone could get into so many knife fights at a nightclub, but this makes so much more sense.”

 

“And I always wondered how someone could get mugged so often,” Evan added, but Brock’s past injuries were a painful reminder that he didn’t want to dwell on, especially when he still hadn’t quite come to terms with the inevitability that he’d get hurt again in the future. 

 

Brock chuckled softly. “I guess neither of us have been particularly honest, huh?” he remarked sheepishly with a small smile in his voice that had Evan smiling along with him in spite of himself. 

 

“I guess not,” he agreed, tempted to reach back and grab Brock’s hand, but didn’t. He still had more apologizing to do before he deserved that. “...I’m sorry for not being honest with you earlier and that you had to find out the truth this way. Delirious wanted me to tell you, but I didn’t listen to him, and I’m sorry.”

 

That caught Brock off guard. “Wait- Delirious knows?” he asked, surprised and confused, and Evan only then remembered that Brock didn’t know that Delirious knew about their identities. 

 

“Yeah, apparently he figured out who you were ages ago, and he’s a lot smarter than his dumb raccoon mask looks,” Evan drawled, still in utter disbelief that  _ Delirious _  figured this out before they did. 

 

“Seriously?” Brock asked, and when Evan confirmed, he added: “Oh my gosh, we must be _really_ _dumb_!” His hearty laugh that accompanied his words had Evan laughing along with him as always, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling when he felt Brock’s fingers intertwine with his. “I’m sorry too. You’re not the only one who was hiding a double life, and I’m equally at fault here. I should have told you earlier too.”

 

“It’s okay; I don’t really blame you. I should have told you after I took your mask off and found out the truth,” Evan said, feeling that pang of guilt once again, but Brock squeezed his fingers and reassured him that it was okay. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, Evan. You were just doing what you thought was the best for us - I was too - and I can’t fault you for that.” 

 

Now that he finally had the confirmation that Brock wasn’t mad at him, Evan could relax. The knot of guilt in his chest that had been bothering him ever since the standoff in the alleyway was subsiding, and he could finally breathe easy again. He was so incredibly relieved that Brock was understanding and so willing to forgive him, and part of him wondered why he was so worried that he wouldn’t to begin with. Of course Brock wouldn’t hold it against him; he _l_ _ oved _  him to the moon and back, and it would take something a lot more traumatic than a simple misunderstanding to tear them apart. 

 

“We okay?” he asked just to be sure.    
  


Brock chuckled. “Yeah, we’re okay,” he confirmed and gave his hand another squeeze. 

 

Now that they had made up, Evan smiled softly to himself, quietly glad they had worked everything out, but felt that hand holding wasn’t enough for him right now. “Y’know... “ he began timidly. “If it weren’t for these handcuffs, I’d kiss you right now.” The metal bands wrapped tightly around his wrist felt more restricting than ever, and it killed him that he couldn’t get up and hug Brock when all he wanted to do is hold him close. However, there was very little they could do until Delirious found them and broke them out - or so he thought. 

 

“...I might be able to reach the lockpicks in my utility belt,” Brock said after a moment of thought, and let go of his hand to try. 

 

As Brock shuffled around, Evan could feel him unintentionally tugging on their joined handcuffs as he moved, and he adjusted his own position in an attempt to help him reach his belt. If Brock could access his lockpicks, then they wouldn’t have to depend on Delirious to save them and could make their escape much sooner. Evan had no doubts that Delirious would find them eventually, but for all they knew, he could be on the other side of the city and wouldn’t reach them for hours, and they might not have that time to spare. If Brock could free them, then they could get out of here now and be long gone by the time the Dark Rat returned. 

 

“Got them!” Brock exclaimed triumphantly, and immediately after, Evan felt him grab his hand again and feel around for the lock. “I won’t be able to get an angle on mine, but I might be able to free you - just keep still,” he instructed, and Evan did as he was told. “It’s going to be hard since I can’t see what I’m doing, but I think I can do it.”

 

“I  _ know _  you can,” Evan encouraged, and tried to smile at him over his shoulder which was pointless considering they were both masked and Brock chastised him for moving. 

 

As Brock quietly worked, Evan remained silent to allow him to concentrate. This wouldn’t be the first time Brock’s ability to lockpick has gotten them out of a difficult scrape, and he had learned from past experiences to keep quiet so Brock wouldn’t get distracted and accidentally break a pick. However, that plan immediately went out the window once a thought occurred to him.

 

“Wait, when did you learn how to lockpick?!” Evan blurted out, suddenly realising that up until recently, as far as he was concerned, that was something Brock didn’t know how to do. He had always known Early Bird could pick locks and he appreciated that skill immensely, but before, he had always assumed that Early Bird was the type of person who had odd skills like that. Brock wasn’t, and he was very curious as to where he picked that up. 

 

“Oh! Uhh,” Brock stuttered with a sheepish giggle. “Well, when we first started working together, I thought it would be a useful skill to have, so I bought a kit and taught myself how to do it,” he explained simply, and Evan shook his head in disbelief.

 

“Unbelievable,” he drawled, earning himself another laugh from Brock. 

 

“Well, maybe if you’re good, I can teach you how to do it sometime. Then you wouldn’t need me to save your butt so often~” Brock teased, and Evan rolled his eyes and smiled to himself affectionately. 

 

However, before he had a chance to fire back with a retort, the cuff on his left wrist clicked unlocked. “I got it!” Brock celebrated as Evan tugged his wrists apart. The pair of handcuffs hung from his other wrist still firmly clasped shut, but he could worry about that later. As long as he could move his hands, he could get them out of here. 

 

Wasting no time, Evan sprung up from his seat and moved it out of the way so that he could get better access to Brock’s cuffs and begin freeing him. Unlike his partner, Evan never learned how to lockpick and so that wasn’t a viable option. The retractable talons built into his glove were sharp enough to slice through rope but not steel handcuffs, but his laser pen might do the trick. 

 

Kneeling down on one knee, Evan reached for the pen hooked onto the front of his utility belt with one hand and steadied Brock’s wrist with the other. “Hold still,” he muttered, and flicked on the laser, carefully angling it downwards so he didn’t accidentally singe Brock. The red beam shot out of the tip and quickly bore through the thin links binding each cuff together, and in a matter of seconds, they broke apart. 

 

Once Brock was free, Evan sheathed his laser pen no longer needing it, and looked back up to find Brock staring at the now separated cuffs still clasped tightly around his wrists. “We’ll get those off later. Let’s just get out of here,” he said, standing up and crossing the room to the door. 

 

Evan gripped the door handle, but hesitated before opening it. Worried that there might be someone waiting for them on the other side, he pressed his ear to the wood first, and listened out for any potential footsteps that could signal that there was a guard coming. He could still hear laughter and muffled conversation in the distance, but couldn’t hear anything that would suggest there was someone standing on the other side of the door, and so he took a chance and cracked it open just wide enough for him to peek out. 

 

The office they were locked in was on the second floor of the abandoned warehouse, and was only accessible via a metal catwalk that hung up high in the rafters. Below them on the warehouse floor, several of the Dark Rat’s minions were gathered around a fold up table playing what looked like Mouse Trap, but it was difficult to tell which one from this far away. None of them were paying the office any attention and didn’t seem to notice that they had escaped their bindings, and might not notice them slip out of the office either. However, the railings of the catwalk provided no cover and they’d be out in the open and could risk getting seen. 

 

It wasn’t immediately obvious as to what they should do, but luckily, Brock had a plan B. “Over here!” he called out to him in a hushed voice, and Evan turned around to find him standing on the steel table pushing open one of the high windows. “We can climb through here!”

 

“Perfect!” Evan exclaimed as he shut the door as quietly as he could as to not draw any attention. 

 

With the door closed, Evan crossed to the other side of the room to Brock, and accepted the hand he was offered. Brock pulled him up onto the table next to him, and then boosted him up to the window so he could climb through. Evan slipped one leg out the window and straddled the sill, but turned back into the warehouse to offer Brock a hand and pull him up next to him, refusing to leave him behind. 

 

What they didn’t take into account was the fact they were now around thirty feet in the air with no soft landing so jumping was out of the question - but they could go  _ up _ . “This way!” Evan instructed him, and gripped onto the edge of the roof above them and hauled himself up. Once on the roof, he helped Brock climb up the rest of the way, and then after that, their escape was only a matter of hopping from one roof to the next. 

 

They didn’t stop running until they were far off enough way that the Dark Rat’s minions catching up to them was no longer a possibility. Evan slowed to a halt on the roof of a random building to catch his breath, heart beating hard after all of the running and jumping, and Brock looked to be equally tired. Tonight left them feeling both physically and emotionally exhausted, and Evan was counting down the hours until they could go home and curl up in bed together. The sooner they were both safe under the covers, the better. 

 

“Y’know,” Brock began once he’d caught his breath, gaining his attention. “I still can’t believe that it was  _ you _  in that suit this whole time,” he said, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder as he not-so-subtly checked him out. “Next you’re going to tell me that Batcoon is my Dad or something.”

 

Evan laughed. “I can confirm he’s _  not  _ your Dad,” he said, taking the hand off his shoulder and holding it. He wanted to do a lot more but was nervous to show him any sort of affection when they were in costume like this. They may have been in the early hours of the morning, but that didn’t mean that somebody couldn’t be watching. “He’s my friend Jonathan actually.”

 

“ _ What?! Is he?! _ ” Brock exclaimed in surprise, letting go of Evan’s hand to bury his face in his palms. “Oh my gosh…” he groaned as Evan chuckled at his reaction. “We’ve hung out so many times, and I never knew…. He was at our wedding! He was your best man! How did I not know this?” 

 

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Evan said softly, and gently tugged Brock’s hands away from his mask. “You couldn’t have known when we did everything we could to make sure you didn’t find out. That’s not your fault….”

 

“I know,” Brock sighed and gave his hands a light squeeze, “I just feel so stupid for not realising earlier that both of my partners were two of the people I’m closest to….” 

 

Frowning, Evan squeezed his hands in return, but felt that it wasn’t enough. He didn’t like Brock putting himself down like this, not when he was the most perfect person he ever knew (though he was  _ very _  biased), and he hated to see him so down about something that wasn’t even his fault. It wasn’t right, and simple hand holding wasn’t going to be enough to cheer him up and make him feel better. 

 

Evan took a moment to look around them and at every window facing them to ensure that nobody was looking before he gently tugged him into a hug. “You’re not stupid. I didn’t notice you were Early Bird either until I had to take off your mask. Delirious is the only one who figured it out, so it definitely isn’t just you, so if you’re stupid for not knowing, then I’m as dumb as a brick as well.”

 

Brock chuckled lightly into his shoulder. “I guess we’re both idiots then, and Delirious is the smart one.”

 

“Oh God…” Evan groaned, and Brock laughed again. 

 

After the week he’s had, worried and stressed out about what would happen if Brock ever found out the whole truth, Evan was just glad that they could stand here together on a rooftop in full costume and still be the loving husbands they always were together. He had been so anxious that he could potentially lose Brock over this that part of him thought that maybe they would never laugh together like this again, and he was relieved that wasn’t the case. His chest was light and carefree, and he couldn’t feel more blissful than he did right then. 

 

“Y’know…” Brock began slyly, pulling back to run his hands down from Evan’s shoulders to lightly lay on his chest. “You do owe me that kiss from the warehouse…~!” 

 

Evan laughed at his forwardness, but he supposed that he  _ did _  promise him a kiss, and what kind of husband would he be if he didn’t keep his promises?

 

Again, Evan looked around carefully to ensure that nobody was watching them before tugging his mask up above his nose, temporarily blinding himself as he could no longer see through his eyeholes. Once he was ready, he reached forward and blindly did the same for Brock as Brock’s hands trailed down his chest before eventually settling on his hips and tugging him closer. Even though he couldn’t see, Evan knew that Brock was beaming at him - a theory that was confirmed when he finally cupped his cheek and kissed him. It was soft and sweet and chaste, and more smiles than anything else, and the plastic beaks on their masks kept bumping together, but Evan didn’t care. They were together, safe and happy, and that’s all that mattered. 

 

“ _ Are you fucking serious _ ?!” With their masks askew, neither of them noticed Delirious approach them until they heard his voice, and they quickly pulled away. Evan tugged his mask back on so he could see him properly only to find him marching towards them visibly annoyed. “I was off busting my ass trying to rescue you guys because I got the distress beacon saying you were in trouble, but instead you’re up here with your tongues down each other’s throats?! What were you thinking?! There could be children watching!” 

 

Evan rolled his eyes at Delirious’ ranting as Brock chuckled between them. “There was no tongue,” Evan clarified, letting go of Brock to fold his arms across his chest. As ridiculous as Delirious was being, he did have a point in that there could be someone watching and so they should probably keep the PDA to a minimum. “And besides, I thought  _ you _  of all people would be glad to see that we talked things out and there’s no more secrets between us,” he pointed out. Delirious was a strong advocate for him confessing the truth to Brock, and he thought he’d be happier about it. 

 

“Oh I am! I was getting tired of you two being oblivious all the damn time! I don’t like being the smart one; it’s frustrating,” Delirious complained, mimicking Evan’s stance and folding his arms as well. 

 

“Good thing it doesn’t happen often then,” Evan teased, earning himself a laugh from Brock and a playful smack on the arm from Delirious. 

 

“What happened anyway?” he asked, still curious about the distress beacon and as he fidgeted with his watch to turn off the still active beacon and tracking device he had been following, Evan remembered that he should do the same now that neither he nor Brock were in trouble. 

 

“Just the Dark Rat and his usual bullshit. He tied us up for a bit, but Br- Early Bird broke us out,” Evan explained as he clicked buttons on his own watch, barely remembering that he shouldn’t be calling Brock by his own name now that they were no longer in private. 

 

“And then came up here to make out while I was worried sick?” Delirious pressed further, and Evan rolled his eyes again. He doubted Delirious was as concerned as he was claiming, but then again, they did find themselves in some genuinely dangerous situations at times. They probably should have done something sooner to let him know they were okay. 

 

“Could you blame me? I didn’t realise it before because I didn’t know it was him, but he looks  _ really  _ good in that suit,” Brock said with a small hum, shamelessly ogling him up and down and quickly capturing Evan’s attention, but Delirious put a firm stop to the flirting before it could escalate. 

 

“Oh my God,” he groaned and buried his face in his hands. “If I knew this was the kind of conversations I was going to have to listen to, I never would’ve let either of you find out the truth.”

 

He was acting like a child who was forced to watch his parents kiss, so Evan couldn’t blame Brock for laughing and then trying to tease him further. “Y’know, maybe we could make use of some of these gadgets and handcuffs in the bed-”

 

“No! Stop!” Delirious exclaimed and turned around, all while comically covering his ears and singing “LA LA LA LA” at the top of his lungs to block Brock out who could only laugh uproariously at him. 

 

As they teased each other playfully like any good friends would do, Evan watched them with a smile. Now that they all knew the truth about each other, being out here on duty felt more like a couple of friends hanging out than ever before, and he wondered if maybe this was how it always should have been - easy, light, and no secrets between them. Brock was his husband, his family, and now that he knew the truth about him and Delirious, he didn’t have to worry about lying or sneaking around anymore, and now could instead focus on working alongside his two best friends, and concentrate on keeping his favourite people happy. 

 

The past week had been one of the most stressful he’d ever experienced, but it couldn’t have ended better and the future looked bright. Now that he finally knew Brock was Early Bird and Brock knew about him, Evan could be reassured that he really would stick by him through thick and thin just as he had promised in his vows, and they could be a better team than ever before. 

 

After all, who would make a better partner in the world of fighting crime than his husband and partner in life?

 

**Author's Note:**

> I was supposed to have this finished a few months ago, but life didn't work out that way (and this ended up being much longer than expected hoo boy). Much love to @Jaysketchin for putting up with me as I wrote this, and for proofreading and stuff <3
> 
> This fic is based off an old AU I created and talked about on my tumblr almost a year ago now, and a lot of plot elements in this story was taken from those old posts, so if this seemed familiar at any point, that's probably why :P This AU has been developed and changed a LOT since then to the point that aside from what I've written in this fic, it's almost completely different. This fic is only the tip of the iceberg of a very expansive au that @Jaysketchin and I have been talking about together a whole lot, so it's entirely possible you may see more stories set in this au in the future ;P (no promises though)
> 
> And just in case anyone is wondering, the Dark Rat and his cronies are just random OCs created specifically for the purposes of this fic. He's not any of the others guys, or a reference to anything in particular, he's just a random douche :P The other guys do have roles in this au, they just weren't relevant to the plot of this fic and therefore went unmentioned. If I write any more, I'll introduce you to them then <3
> 
> Anyway, here's a link to my tumblr if you wanna follow me there (I post way more fics there than here btw): http://brocksnuckel.tumblr.com/
> 
> But other than that, I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! ♥


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